The Analytical Framework Paper is part of the first delivery of the EuroDesign Project, an initiative that aims to identify and establish guidelines for measuring design as a factor of economic production and its impact on GDP. EuroDesign counts with the participation of six European partners: BCD Barcelona Design Centre, Coordinator (Spain); Copenhagen Business School (Denmark); designaustria knowledge centre & interest organization (Austria); Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (Hungary); SVID Swedish Industrial Design Foundation (Sweden) and the University of Cambridge / Design Management Group (United Kingdom).

The project, co-financed by the European Commission, ENISA (Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism), the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth, with a budget of one million euro, will analyse and define the conceptual framework of design in the economic context, in order to measure it as a tool for user-centred innovation and as economic factor of production. The objective is to obtain tangible results that demonstrate the importance of design as a crucial element to enhance the innovative capabilities of Europe and increasing economic growth and business competitiveness in the global market. The initiative is part of the 1st Action Plan of the European Design Innovation Initiative, a commitment of the Innovation Union Europe 2020 flagship to exploit the full potential of design for innovation and to reinforce the link between design, innovation and competitiveness.